Anarchy's Chaos and Reckoning
by Paradoxical Warpath
Summary: One just wants to turn Gotham upside down; the other wants to give power back to the people. Together Gotham will burn. Warnings inside.


**Author's Note:** This is a Bane fanfiction. It will have many others in it, but will mostly focus on Bane, the Joker, and occasionally Talia and Bruce Wayne/Batman. There will be original characters – but there won't be any major ones and each will serve their purpose.

There will be _**intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content **__(both hetero and slash) __**and strong language**_.

This will be a somewhat dark story, and at times the characters will be out of character to fit the need of the story. I have the overall plot planned out, though I have to go and fix and change a few small details and whatnot.

Also, I'm in need of a Beta Reader - so if interested please send me a PM. Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I _do not_ own anything or anyone from the Batman comics or movies. This is just a fanfiction to appease my Bane obsession.

**Prologue**

It was so easy. Easy enough where one might have said it was _too_ easy. Of course, that was only because he made it seem that way, but then again he made everything seem so. Unlike the petty thugs and mobsters who wanted to have everyone else _think_ they ran things he did so _literally_. The difference between them and he was one simple thing: planning. They chose to do their scheming off the top of their heads or in reaction to something that has happened. He chose to plan, watching and waiting for years, before choosing to set things in motion. He studied. Slowly populating his army and brainwashing them to do his work with no hesitation. His men would willingly die for him and his cause – which was something he had no problem with. They knew that it was a risky decision to work with him and that their end would most likely be death. They did not shun that fact but yet embraced it with open arms. Every great cause had martyrs right?

After years of watching, waiting, planning, dreaming and the day had finally come. And it was well worth the wait. Seeing how quickly the citizens of Gotham embraced their fate and turned on one another was – predictable – at best. Once the Bat was out of the picture there was nothing or no one who could get in his way. Well, except one person. The man was just as intelligent as he was, and although their reasons for their actions were different they both wanted the same thing.

One thing they differed on completely was the fate of the Batman. They fought occasionally over it, him with strength and the other man with cunningness. He wanted the Bat dead; it was too much of a risk to keep him alive. His partner wanted him alive. After all, he knew that Batman **would** get better and he **would** eventually be back. Without the Batman things would be too boring, too easy, and there wouldn't be … enough … to keep him interested.

Gotham was already in shambles as the clock to its fate slowly, but constantly continued to count down. Time was running out and the citizens of this once great city hid as each day their fates became more and more of a reality. Their hope quickly dwindled and crime was actually at a new time low for once in Gotham's history. No one did anything without his permission and most of the killings were of law enforcement officers or members of the resistance. Everything that went on in the city he knew about and he gave every person one simple rule:

Live or die.

Keep your head low, your mouth shut, and mind your business? Most likely you would live. But if you choose to join the resistance, choose to try instilling hope when there's none left? Well then you choose to die – and he would make sure to make it a painful, slow, public death.

What's the best way to crush someone's spirit? To kill the ones they cherish. Something he has learned over the years is making an example of few can change the minds of many.

Studying briefly under Ra's al Ghul Bane learned a lot in the ways of the League of Shadows. It wouldn't have been possible without the most important person in his life – his beautiful and intelligent Talia. If you asked anyone on the streets who ran the city they would reply with his name almost instantly, but that of course was not the whole truth.

. . .

It was Talia's idea to get back at Gotham and more importantly the Batman for the death of her father. It took years of planning and many nights of little to no sleep but they knew it had to be perfect. They couldn't afford mistakes with so much riding on everything working in their favor.

Talia and Bane – the Heir and the Guardian. They had been an unstoppable force for years ever since that memorable day her mother was killed. Neither one of them could have ever dreamed that that day would be a defining moment in their lives. After all, back then the only dreams that they, and all of the other prisoners, had were to make it out of that hell-on-Earth.

Watching the dark snowy streets of Gotham from the uppermost window from the Courthouse with calculating and uncaring eyes Bane scanned the city deep in thought. It was pitch black in the room he was in. He took comfort from the shadows. They had never betrayed him and had saved his life several times before. The shadows bent to his will. They were his in every sense of the word.

Listening to the door of his room opening he gave no sign that he was aware of another presence in the room and continued to watch the eerily silent streets down below. There were only one soul brave enough to venture anywhere near his room without permission let alone entering.

Listening and waiting: two things he was very good at. And soon the almost too-hard-to-hear footsteps stopped directly behind him. Silence.

"It is done."

Three simple words but their meaning held a ton of weight. Everything they had been working for depended on this moment. Turning slowly to face Talia he nodded once to convey his understanding.

"And?"

No words were needed and all Talia did was smirk almost arrogantly at him. Her light accented voice oozed it though as he turned to face the window once more. He had a lot to think about. The Joker, newly freed from Arkham Asylum just a few weeks ago, had agreed to join forces.

"And you said it would not be possible."

And with that Talia left him in solitude once more.


End file.
